Just wanted to write a bit about a small business owner my professor introduced us to the other day. Mama Tope runs a bed and breakfast inside the townships that has been featured in many magazines across the globe. Just to clarify, the “townships” here are what you would think of as slums or shantytowns anywhere else. From her home, she saw many foreigners being bused through the townships on tours, but never stopping to experience it. She had the idea to open 4 rooms to foreigners and act as a liaison between her community and the rich people passing through. The idea took off and, to include her community, she began coaching them on what they could do to become a part of this tourist industry (in academia now, this type of tourism is growing and is often known as “poorism”- the ethics of this are for a completely different discussion one day.). She hires in entertainers for her guests from the township, and she hires local youth to give a guided tour through the area. She’s coached people on different things to sell. “You can’t all sell the same thing,” she told them, “If you do, I can’t help you.” The community also works as a backup when large tour groups book at her B&B. If she doesn’t have enough room, she goes out into the community to find host families to take in the extra guests, and then allows these host families to keep the money from the entire night’s stay for themselves (a huge boost in income for them). She’s been doing this for almost ten years now, more as an activist than a true entrepreneur, but she said she’s tired, and so she’s also outsourced the cooking to local community members. This type of business is a model in development because she’s essentially acted as a mentor by teaching her community how to tap into what resources they have and learn to market it to foreigners who have alot of money. The business is struggling, however, because the government has just instituted a tax on tourism businesses that operate out of the home. This new tax disproportionally affects women because they tend to be the ones operating out of the home. Additionally, she was complaining that most of her customers are rich white people, but within South Africa, they still haven’t been able to break down the barriers of post-apartheid racial lines- meaning that white South Africans would never stay at a B&B in a township, even though they’re the ones who need most desperately to experience that type of environment.
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| Mama Tope’s B&B |
Mama Tope is stretched thin as she gets pulled internationally to talk about her business model and mentor others in similar situations, but she’s worried that she hasn’t been able to expand her business and won’t be able to support herself in retirement. It’s sad that the life of an activist such as her has to worry about what the future will bring financially, considering all the good she’s done for the community and the spirit of small business development in general. She is an inspiration, and despite the criticism she might endure from some in our group, if there were more Mama Topes in this world, great things could happen. Our students discussed with her ideas on how to step up her business, but I think we’re missing the point that she’s tired and rather than act as entirely as a community mentor, she wants to think more about how to secure her finances in her old age. She attempted to expand her property, but the neighbors backed out at the last minute and now refuse to sell their land. With only 4 rooms, she faces severe limitations on her business. She also complained about how tired she was because when guests stay because they expect her to eat with them every night and share her stories of living in the townships and of being an activist for freedom during apartheid. We talked of giving guests only 1 night of dialogue as part of the package, and then charging for any additional “one on one time”- it’s kind of sad that in order to survive, her stories have to become commercialized and doled out in “packages” for people to pick and choose. I’ve seen this all over the world- the aboriginal living museum in Cairns, Australia, at the Ainu cultural living museums in Japan, and even in the most remote parts of Nepal. While I enjoyed engaging in them as a tourist, I have to wonder about the authenticity of experience and the dignity of individuals who, because they financially have no alternatives, are forced to prostitute (maybe that’s a bit harsh) their culture and dignity for those of us with money to spend. Where’s the line between cultural exchange and capitalism? Between awareness and reinforcing “otherness” of truly unique aspects of humanity?